Baltimore is trending up against a team that’s in transition.
WHAT: Week Ten, Game Nine at New England Patriots
WHEN: 8:20 p.m. (ET); Sunday, November 15
WHERE: Gillette Stadium; Foxborough, Mass. (65,878)
RECORDS: Ravens, 6-2; Patriots, 3-5
LIFETIME SERIES (regular season): Patriots lead, 8-2, having won two of the last three regular-season meetings; in Foxborough, the Patriots are 5-0 at home against Baltimore (2-2 in postseason play). Baltimore has also won a preseason game there.
LOCAL TV and RADIO: WBAL-TV, Channel 11, and WIYY-FM, 97.9
About the Patriots
–The Patriots were the last of the eight original American Football League franchises to be awarded. The league began play in 1960. Owner Billy Sullivan and Sullivan Brothers Printers took stewardship of the team, which played in the AFL until the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
–In 1971, the team changed its name from the Boston Patriots to the New England Patriots.
–During the Sixties, the team played in several different venues. Those venues included Nickerson Field (Boston University), Harvard Stadium, Fenway Park, and Alumni Stadium (Boston College) before moving to the new Foxborough Stadium in 1970 and relocating to its current home, Gillette Stadium, in 2002.
–Gillette Stadium, the current home of the Patriots, opened in 2002, the year after New England got its first Super Bowl win. The Patriots have won 83 percent of their games there (123-25). It cost $325 million, all reportedly funded by owner Robert Kraft. (Boston is the only city where all its major stadiums are privately funded.) Kraft wanted the stadium to be modeled after Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium facility. Gillette has 89 luxury suites and 5876 club seats, and it has hosted major concerts, international soccer matches, the New England Revolution (Major League Soccer), University of Massachusetts football, the Boston Cannons (Major League Lacrosse), and the Winter Classic (National Hockey League). The stadium had a grass surface from 2002-06, but it has featured FieldTurf since.
–In the franchise’s AFL era, the Patriots made the championship game only once, losing to the San Diego Chargers, 51-10, in 1963. The team wouldn’t play in the postseason again for another 13 years. Still, in 60 full seasons, New England has racked up a total of 27 playoff appearances (tied with Philadelphia for seventh-most), including 22 AFC East Division titles–a current streak of 11 straight and 19 in the last 24 years–and five wild-card berths. The Patriots haven’t missed the playoffs since 2008, when quarterback Tom Brady incurred a season-ending injury in Week One. However, the team still accumulated an 11-5 record before losing out on tiebreakers.
–New England is 11-4 in AFC Championship Games, giving it an NFL-record 11 Super Bowl appearances. Its six Super Bowl titles are tied with Pittsburgh for the most–one ahead of the five won by Dallas and San Francisco. The Patriots’ five Super Bowl losses are tied with Denver. In 2018, New England became only the second team to advance to three straight Super Bowls–one shy of Buffalo’s record of four consecutive appearances (1990-93, Super Bowls 25-28). The Patriots have also appeared in four of the last six title games.
–When the Baltimore Colts were part of the NFL, they were in the AFC East Division as the Patriots. The teams met twice per season between 1970 and 1983, after which the Colts moved to Indianapolis. (Note: They met just once in 1982 due to a players’ strike.) The Colts swept the Patriots four times, while New England registered two sweeps. While in Baltimore, the Colts held a narrow 15-12 edge over the Patriots.
–Since 1994 when principal owner Robert Kraft purchased the team, the Patriots’ .693 winning percentage is the best among teams in America’s four major professional sports leagues. The Ravens are an impressive 25th on that list at .563, even though they didn’t exist until 1996.
–The Ravens and Patriots have had an eventful history. Baltimore has never won a regular-season game in New England but has two postseason victories, including the 2012 AFC Championship Game. The Patriots won a 46-38 donnybrook at Memorial Stadium in 1996, the second-highest-scoring game in Ravens history. Now with the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll beat the Ravens in his final game as the Pats’ head coach in 1999. The unbeaten 2007 regular-season team narrowly won in Baltimore, getting a Tom Brady scoring pass to Jabar Gaffney in the west end zone with under a minute left.
–Besides two playoff wins on the road, the Ravens’ successes against the Patriots have come in a pair of Sunday-night, nationally-televised home games. In the 2012 championship season, the Ravens took an emotional 31-30 Sunday-night thriller on head coach John Harbaugh’s birthday. Last year, the Ravens played a home game for the first time in team history against an undefeated defending Super Bowl champion. They throttled New England, 37-20. The Ravens and Pats hooked up in a 46-38 Memorial Stadium donnybrook that New England won in 1996. It was the second-highest-scoring game in Ravens’ history.
–New England is one of eight teams that holds a lifetime winning edge over the Ravens. The Pats have taken eight of the ten regular-season meetings between the teams, including all five games in Foxborough. The Ravens do have a 2008 preseason victory, including two postseason wins there. One was the 2012 AFC Championship Game in which they shut out the Patriots in the second half. A Wild Card Weekend meeting a few years earlier resulted in a lopsided Baltimore win.
–New England began its 2020 season with four of its first six games at home, but they came out of that stretch with merely a 2-4 record. It played two straight AFC East opponents on the road (Buffalo, New York Jets) before coming home for this week’s game against Baltimore. After this week, four of New England’s next five games will be played away from home, including consecutive games in Los Angeles to play the Chargers and Rams. New England wraps up the season at home with consecutive division games against the Bills and Jets.
–Three of the Patriots’ five losses have been by single-digit margins, but they have lost badly to last year’s Super Bowl teams, falling by 16 to Kansas City and 27 to San Francisco. New England also went through a four-game losing streak, which dropped its record from 2-1 to 2-5, before outlasting the winless Jets last Monday night. The Patriots have scored 21 or fewer points in five of eight games and allowed 20 or more five times. Usually a strong home team, New England is 2-2 at Gillette Stadium this year.
–The Patriots have allowed 28 more points than they have scored this year (166-194). A big part of the reason for that is that they get off to slow starts. In the first quarter of 2020, New England has been outscored 39-14. Yet, it is one of the few teams in the league that can boast a run-pass balance similar to that of the Ravens–running the ball 262 times and attempting to pass it on 255 occasions (including 15 sacks allowed). But the usually-strong Pats defense–hampered by several COVID opt-outs this season–allows over six yards per play, eight rushing touchdowns, and 21 total touchdowns.
–Since 1994, New England sports a plus-224 turnover ratio, the league’s best. This year, it has a rather modest minus-1 figure, but the Pats have picked off ten passes this year, the second-most in the league. Five different players are responsible for those pickoffs, including former Maryland star JC Jackson, with a team-high five. Teammate Devin McCourty has two interceptions, running one of them back for a 43-yard touchdown.
–Three different Patriot quarterbacks have combined to throw 11 interceptions, the second-highest team total in the league. Patriot ball-carriers have committed 11 fumbles, losing four, and the defense has forced only seven miscues, far behind Baltimore’s league-leading 16. New England has recovered four of those seven fumbles.
–At the season’s approximate halfway mark, New England is the NFL’s least penalized team. They have 26 accepted infractions, roughly half of Baltimore’s total of 51. New England has drawn no flags this year for illegal contact, roughing the passer, encroachment, or offensive pass interference, and has just three false starts and four holds. Individually, Pro Bowl corner Stephon Gilmore has committed three pass interference penalties and one defensive holding infraction for a total of four. No other Patriot has more than two flags. The 2008 Pats committed 57 penalties, the second-fewest in a 16-game schedule, bettered only by the 2012 Atlanta Falcons (55).
–Through Week Nine’s games, the Patriots are tied for 17th overall on offense (fourth rushing at 159.6 yards per game, 28th passing, 28th scoring at 20.8 points per game). New England ranks a mere 16th in third-down conversion rate and 25th out of 32 teams in red-zone touchdown percentage. On defense, New England ranks 12th overall (25th vs. rush, allowing 131 yards per game, ninth vs. pass, 12th scoring, allowing 24.3 points per game). The Patriots are 15th in third-down defense and tied for 12th in the red zone. Interestingly, no Patriots opponent has even tried to convert a fourth-down play against them; given the Ravens’ tendencies, that is sure to change this week.
–Head coach Bill Belichick (307-144 career record, .682, between Cleveland and New England, including the postseason) is in his record-setting 46th straight year as an NFL head or assistant 21st with the Patriots–the longest-serving current head coach. He is the 15th head coach in team history. Belichick has coached New England to 19 straight winning seasons, breaking Tom Landry’s record for the longest such streak with one team (16). He is one of only four coaches to have five or more titles in league history, joining George Halas, Curley Lambeau, and Vince Lombardi. Belichick has 270 wins (including playoffs) since 2000, the NFL’s most in that span; the Ravens are fifth with 211.
–Belichick’s win total is third-most all-time behind Halas and Don Shula. He has coached in 12 Super Bowls as either a head or assistant coach. Belichick grew up mostly in Annapolis, where his father, Steve, was a longtime Navy assistant coach. His first NFL job was as a low-level assistant with the Baltimore Colts in 1975 under Ted Marchibroda.
–After nine years quarterbacking the Carolina Panthers, including a Super Bowl 50 appearance, ten-year veteran Cam Newton (6-foot-5, 245) took over the reins in New England upon Tom Brady’s free-agent departure. Newton is a three-time Pro Bowl pick and, in 2015 alone, was an All-Pro, the league’s Most Valuable Player, and Offensive Player of the Year. Newton, the 2011 top overall draft pick from Auburn, has completed 68.7 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and seven interceptions this year. He has been sacked 12 times and is playing to a 77.9 passer rating. Newton has played twice against the Ravens and has a 1-1 record, 64 percent completions, three touchdowns, no interceptions, two sacks, and a 106.7 rating. He is backed up by Jared Stidham and veteran journeyman Brian Hoyer.
–James White had been the main running and receiving threat out of the backfield in recent years, but the Patriots have a new ground-game workhorse in second-year Alabama product Damien Harris. Harris is a 2019 third-round pick (87th overall). Harris is averaging 5.6 yards-per-carry with one touchdown, but interestingly, Newton has six more carries than Harris and has eight of the team’s 13 rushing touchdowns. Former Cincinnati Bengals back Rex Burkhead is averaging 4.1 yards-per-carry with three touchdowns. Former lead back Sony Michel, on injured reserve with a quad injury, is rushing at 6.7 yards-per-carry. White has only 16 rushes this year, but 25 receptions, second-most on the team. Burkhead has caught 19 passes.
–Damiere Byrd, a fifth-year receiver from South Carolina, leads a new group of Patriot wideouts with 26 catches and a 13-yard average. Former 2019 top draft pick N’Keal Harry (32nd overall), who has been slowed recently by a concussion and was inactive last week, is the only wide receiver to have scored a touchdown this year. Running backs Burkhead and Jakob Johnson have a total of two. Second-year NC State product Jakobi Meyers is averaging 12 yards per catch on his 23 receptions, which is just two more than the total provided by veteran slot man Julian Edelman (15-yard average). Tight end Ryan Izzo has nine grabs and a 12-yard average. Meyers had a career-high 12 catches for 169 yards against the Jets last week.
–The Patriots’ offensive line has allowed 15 sacks so far, an average of almost two per game. They are a veteran group that has performed much better as run blockers than as pass protectors. Left tackle Isaiah Wynn is the Patriots’ 2018 first-round pick from Georgia. This line’s interior is still together from the Patriots’ recent run of success. It includes fifth-year left guard Joe Thuney, six-year center David Andrews, and sixth-year right guard Shaq Mason. The newcomer at right tackle is rookie Mike Onwenu, a sixth-round pick (182nd overall) from Michigan. Backup Korey Cunningham, in his third season from Cincinnati, is the swing tackle. Wynn and Thuney were questionable last week due to ankle problems, and Mason is dealing with a bad calf.
–The Patriots have accumulated a mere 11 sacks over the season’s first half, but 3.5 of them have come from a veteran defensive line that features two former Ravens. Defensive end/tackle Lawrence Guy, inactive last week with shoulder, elbow, and knee problems, has 22 tackles (eighth on the team), one sack, three tackles for loss, and five quarterback hits. Baltimore 2013 fourth-round pick John Simon (129th overall) is the team’s fifth-leading tackler with 29 and three quarterback hits. Simon’s end opposite is Deatrich Wise is sixth on the team with 27 tackles and 1.5 sacks. He had six tackles and a sack last week. Defensive tackle Byron Cowart (Maryland) has 17 stops, and backup Nick Thurman has provided depth and can start when needed. Besides Guy’s injuries, Wise has had to deal with knee and hand problems, and Simon has had a nagging elbow.
–The New England linebacking corps has been rather non-descript this year due to opt-outs, injuries, and a level of play that has been average at best. Even second-year linebacker Chase Winovich had seen his snaps decrease even though he leads the team in sacks with 2.5 and has six quarterback hits. He did see his playing time increase last Monday against the Jets. The man in the middle is third-year Purdue product Ja-Whaun Bentley (2018 fifth-rounder, 143rd overall), who is second on the team in tackles with 45, as well as 1.5 sacks. But he missed last week’s game due to a groin problem. Third-year LSU product Tashawn Bower, a former practice-squad player, had to start last week. Another one of last week’s starters, Missouri’s first-year product Terez Hall, is listed as third on the depth chart. Former Oakland Raiders outside linebacker Shilique Calhoun is bothered by a knee problem. He has only two sacks, but that’s good enough to rank him second on the team
–Standout cornerback Stephon Gilmore is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, a three-time Pro Bowl pick, and a two-time All-Pro. But he has missed the last two games. Jonathan Jones is Gilmore’s backup (each has one interception), and he is third on the team in tackles with 41, along with five pass breakups. The other side is locked down by veteran Jason McCourty (25 tackles) and former Maryland star JC Jackson, who has cut down on his penalty-prone ways and has a team- and league-high five interceptions, along with two fumble recoveries. Jackson’s 13 pickoffs since the start of the 2018 season lead the league, and he has at least one pickoff in each of the Pats’ last four games.
–At free safety is Devin McCourty (Jason’s twin brother), who has 33 tackles, two interceptions, and five breakups. Sixth-year safety and former Chargers starter Adrian Phillips leads the team in tackles with 54 and one pick-off. The Ravens originally drafted backup Terrence Brooks in the 2014 draft (third round, 79th overall).
–The Patriots’ main return specialist is backup wideout Gunner Olszewski, a second-year player out of tiny Bemidji State (MN). He has returned only two punts for a 13-yard average and four fair catches. Teammate Damiere Byrd has recorded five fair catches. On kickoffs, Olszewski has run back 16 of them for a 24.1-yard average, ninth-best in the league, but no return has been longer than 33 yards. The punt-coverage unit allows a mere 5.7 yards per runback, ninth-best in the league, and the kick-coverage team is yielding just over 21 yards per return.
–Kicker Nick Folk is a well-traveled NFL veteran, now in his 13th season out of Arizona. He has hit on just over 80 percent of his field-goal tries in a career that has seen him play for Dallas (who drafted him in the sixth round in 2007), the New York Jets, and Tampa Bay before coming to New England midway through the 2019 season. Folk made the Pro Bowl as a rookie with the Cowboys. He leads the Patriots with 56 points, eight ahead of Cam Newton, with 14 field goals in 16 tries and 14 conversions in 15 attempts.
–New England is not averse to using draft picks on specialists, and they used their 2019 fifth-round pick (165th overall) on Stanford punter Jake Bailey. He is the ninth drafted punter in team history and the second under Belichick. He has just one touchback and 13 coffin-corner punts in 20 attempts and is grossing 47.6 yards per punt while netting 45.7.
–The Naval Academy’s Joe Cardona is the long snapper. Cardona has played in three Super Bowls, winning two. He was taken in the fifth round (166th overall) of the 2015 draft and has played in all 88 possible games since. An economics major, Cardona has been commissioned as a junior-grade lieutenant in the Naval Reserves.
Prediction
This matchup is not what it used to be, mainly because New England isn’t what it used to be. But the Ravens still have a few scores to settle. First, they want to win a highly-spotlighted game. Second, they’ve never won a game in New England, either in the old Foxboro Stadium or at the current facility.
In on-the-field matters, Cam Newton is a bigger version of Lamar Jackson, but he is older and less effective than he used to be. Just as importantly, Baltimore is trending up against a team that’s in transition.
Baltimore 31, New England 16
